Project Delivery

This message has been cross posted to the following Discussion Forums: Project Delivery and Small Project Practitioners .
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I live in a small community and my practice is comprised almost entirely municipal/government work.  

Because of my location, I have used planning rooms as well as issuing plans from my office.  I have found that planning rooms never quite give out the correct information and, as they are a paid service, find contractors may or may not be receiving the information/updates.  Additionally, the time I'm taking to answer all the plan room requests for updates eats up a significant amount of time and most importantly, I'm never quite sure who is bidding my projects if contractors go to the plan rooms and don't contact me (Plan rooms won't release the information to me unless I subscribe!).

My dilemma is this:  I have been trying to go exclusively to electronic documents (which are free) rather that the "old school" deposit for documents and hoping they come back in usable condition and the massive amount of paper my clients pay for that goes unused once the project is awarded.  I request in every bid call that the Prime Contractor contact me via email so I can create a bidders list, this rarely happens.

So....for the past five years this is the system I have been using and a couple of things have been consistent:  I'm inundated with requests from plan rooms when an advertisement is released.  I hear from a few contractors directly.  I don't hear from a lot of contractors at all.  The end result is fewer contractors are bidding these projects.  I rarely have a a complete list of bidders, therefore addenda and other information may not be reaching interested contractors, ultimately this winnows the pool.

Forgive my rambling...the point:   I don't want to use plan rooms anymore, do I have any obligation to do so?  

I would like to write the advertisement and instructions that no paper documents will be issued and that interested contractors must contact me directly to receive a link to the documents (my clients are onboard with this). If contractors need paper documents they would bear the expense of printing the documents, that's their call.  

What I don't want, is to limit the pool of interested contractors.  What I do want is to know who is bidding and that they are getting the correct info...

What are your thoughts?  I certainly appreciate any comments and suggestions...Thanks to all!

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Kevin Robinson, AIA, LEED AP, NCARB
Architecture|Workshop LLC
Silver City NM
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Plan Rooms can provide a place for subcontractors to get plans & specs.  I provide a set to them and send them addenda's.  I do not entertain questions from them.

My advertisement states that I will only respond to Prime Contractors questions made in writing (email).  Those who are registered with me shall received a full set of plans & specifications are permitted to be considered.  I send the documents directly from me via e-mail or through a site like Hightail depending on the size the project.  Contractors are also made responsible to make sure that they have received all addenda.  The Bid form also requires them to list addenda received.

If a Prime Contractors bid will not be considered without going through you, they will register withy you, and you can be assured that they have received a complete set of documents and addenda.  If I subcontractor calls me, I provide a list of bidders and plan rooms and do not answer their questions, entertain substitutions etc.  They must go through a Prime Contractor who is also required by submitting that the question is legitimate and that they have vetted the alternate as being equal, in their opinion.  Saves a lot of work.

    -jeff
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Jeffrey Chambers AIA
President
Chambers & Associates Incorporated
Manheim PA
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Original Message:
Sent: 03-17-2014 18:44
From: Kevin Robinson
Subject: Bid Rooms

This message has been cross posted to the following Discussion Forums: Project Delivery and Small Project Practitioners .
-------------------------------------------
I live in a small community and my practice is comprised almost entirely municipal/government work.  

Because of my location, I have used planning rooms as well as issuing plans from my office.  I have found that planning rooms never quite give out the correct information and, as they are a paid service, find contractors may or may not be receiving the information/updates.  Additionally, the time I'm taking to answer all the plan room requests for updates eats up a significant amount of time and most importantly, I'm never quite sure who is bidding my projects if contractors go to the plan rooms and don't contact me (Plan rooms won't release the information to me unless I subscribe!).

My dilemma is this:  I have been trying to go exclusively to electronic documents (which are free) rather that the "old school" deposit for documents and hoping they come back in usable condition and the massive amount of paper my clients pay for that goes unused once the project is awarded.  I request in every bid call that the Prime Contractor contact me via email so I can create a bidders list, this rarely happens.

So....for the past five years this is the system I have been using and a couple of things have been consistent:  I'm inundated with requests from plan rooms when an advertisement is released.  I hear from a few contractors directly.  I don't hear from a lot of contractors at all.  The end result is fewer contractors are bidding these projects.  I rarely have a a complete list of bidders, therefore addenda and other information may not be reaching interested contractors, ultimately this winnows the pool.

Forgive my rambling...the point:   I don't want to use plan rooms anymore, do I have any obligation to do so?  

I would like to write the advertisement and instructions that no paper documents will be issued and that interested contractors must contact me directly to receive a link to the documents (my clients are onboard with this). If contractors need paper documents they would bear the expense of printing the documents, that's their call.  

What I don't want, is to limit the pool of interested contractors.  What I do want is to know who is bidding and that they are getting the correct info...

What are your thoughts?  I certainly appreciate any comments and suggestions...Thanks to all!

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Kevin Robinson, AIA, LEED AP, NCARB
Architecture|Workshop LLC
Silver City NM
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As with anything, the question is one for the client.

An Architect is simply an educator, as all professionals are.  He or she puts the client into a position where the client can make an informed decision.  I don't think an Architect has an obligation to use a plan room service, nor do I think an Architect should ignore it as an option.

That said, to me the approach should be to educate the client on the benefits of such services, and let the client make the decision as to whether to use one as with every other aspect of the project.  In my experience, plan room services are electronic anymore, and most do have useful capabilities, including software that tracks who accesses the data and when it is accessed (I have subpoenaed that sort of thing at times and found useful information so I know that directly).  It is of course a fee service - except the charge is to those who access the data instead of those who provide it (although it obviously won't work unless someone provides project data).  It is convenient for contractors because they can access bid data on several projects at one location, and indeed, many don't bid from it - they only use it to scan the information and decide what they might like to bid on.  They aren't there to provide a benefit to the Architect or the Owner - they are there to make money by providing a service to contractors who subscribe to what they offer.  Keeping that in mind, there are times when it may provide a benefit and times when maybe it doesn't . . . . . the client must decide which is right for the particular project.  While they will likely look to the Architect for a recommendation, the core question is nevertheless one for the client.

Educate the client honestly and objectively and let them make the decision as to whether you use the service.  That is sort of a standard answer as it well should be since the client should be making the decisions anyway.



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Frederick Butters FAIA, Esq.
Frederick F. Butters, PLLC
Southfield MI
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Kevin,

My small practice is similar to yours in that the type of work you describe makes up approximately half of my architectural practice and nearly 100% of my partners' civil engineering practice.  I share your experience and frustration with Bid Rooms.  We have developed a relationship with 2 Bid Houses in our state.  They do not send us a complete list of projects, but they do send us a copy of the project listing for our records and verification that the information is correct.  That is free of charge.  Perhaps you can ask the same.

We get countless calls from Bid Houses I've never heard of whenever a Bid Ad goes out, even for the smallest of projects.  We also charge for these multiple Bid Houses to hold bid packages. 

Occasionally I have trouble with bidders that are not on my list.  The Bid Houses have been good to add a note that all bidders must be on our bid list.  I do know of other A/E firms that hold mandatory Pre-bid Conferences on all projects to establish their bidders list.  Be sure to check with your public client's counsel of record to be certain that you are within the laws of your state.  I do this when I have a reno or expansion project. 

I have been told that we are only one of three A or E firms in our state that still uses paper Bid Packages.  We have requests on every project for electronic Bid Packages.  I am beginning to make a move towards electronic documents, in an effort to meet a client expectation that electronic documents will yield more bids.  I have a concern that I will begin to experience more of what you have, in not knowing whom will show up on bid day and whether or not they have received all addenda.  In the past 6 months I have issued electronic Bid Packages only for a specific client, and held mandatory Pre-bid meetings as both were reno projects.  My luck has been good in my limited experiment.

I am curious to hear from other small practitioners like us.

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Jana K Phillips FAIA, NCARB, LEED AP
Vice President
Brown Engineering, PC
Stillwater OK
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Original Message:
Sent: 03-17-2014 18:44
From: Kevin Robinson
Subject: Bid Rooms

This message has been cross posted to the following Discussion Forums: Project Delivery and Small Project Practitioners .
-------------------------------------------
I live in a small community and my practice is comprised almost entirely municipal/government work.  

Because of my location, I have used planning rooms as well as issuing plans from my office.  I have found that planning rooms never quite give out the correct information and, as they are a paid service, find contractors may or may not be receiving the information/updates.  Additionally, the time I'm taking to answer all the plan room requests for updates eats up a significant amount of time and most importantly, I'm never quite sure who is bidding my projects if contractors go to the plan rooms and don't contact me (Plan rooms won't release the information to me unless I subscribe!).

My dilemma is this:  I have been trying to go exclusively to electronic documents (which are free) rather that the "old school" deposit for documents and hoping they come back in usable condition and the massive amount of paper my clients pay for that goes unused once the project is awarded.  I request in every bid call that the Prime Contractor contact me via email so I can create a bidders list, this rarely happens.

So....for the past five years this is the system I have been using and a couple of things have been consistent:  I'm inundated with requests from plan rooms when an advertisement is released.  I hear from a few contractors directly.  I don't hear from a lot of contractors at all.  The end result is fewer contractors are bidding these projects.  I rarely have a a complete list of bidders, therefore addenda and other information may not be reaching interested contractors, ultimately this winnows the pool.

Forgive my rambling...the point:   I don't want to use plan rooms anymore, do I have any obligation to do so?  

I would like to write the advertisement and instructions that no paper documents will be issued and that interested contractors must contact me directly to receive a link to the documents (my clients are onboard with this). If contractors need paper documents they would bear the expense of printing the documents, that's their call.  

What I don't want, is to limit the pool of interested contractors.  What I do want is to know who is bidding and that they are getting the correct info...

What are your thoughts?  I certainly appreciate any comments and suggestions...Thanks to all!

-------------------------------------------
Kevin Robinson, AIA, LEED AP, NCARB
Architecture|Workshop LLC
Silver City NM
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Kevin

I am like you and have found that public plan rooms are completely useless and causes me more time and effort and portion of my fee if I place the documents in a plan room.  You cannot stop the plan rooms from getting the information on the projects as they scour the Planning Commission and other public documents to get their information.  Cannot blame them for this as this is what they are being paid to do.   However, what I find is that you get the "change order" contractors who are mostly responding to those plan rooms and these are the contractors I do not want on my projects.   When the plan room calls I just tell them we are not placing the Documents in any plan room but will give them the info such as bid date, budget, etc.
Therefore, I place in all my Invitation to Bid and Instruction to Bidders that plans will not be placed in public plan rooms and that any GC or sub-contractor found placing them in the plan room will not be allowed to submit a bid.  This of course is always the Owner option unless it is a publicly funded project which at that point you have to let the Bidders place the plans in public plan rooms, at least in TN.   At first I hestiated to enforce this but when the action would not stop I did take this stance and it only took a couple of times for the word to get out that I meant what was in the spec.  
Unless it is a public funded project you have ZERO obligation to place the plans in the plan room.   Even with publicly funded projects you can write in your spec that the Bidder must obtain documents from you or a specific place (our local reprographic shop has a free online plan room that tracks who views the documents for us so we use their plan room) or they cannot submit a Bid.   In either case you must write into your spec that the Bidder is obligated to make sure they obtain all the Bidding Documents and NOT that you are the one obligated to make sure they receive all the documents.    Place in your Bid Form the Bidder is required to list all Documents including specs with their dates and list all Addenda and Clarifications that they acknowledge receipt of.   When you open the Bid if they do not list these or have left an Addendum out you can throw out their Bid.
Do not issue hardcopies any longer.   Everyone is adjusted to electronic files now.  Issue PDF files and let the GC and subs be responsible for their own printing.  They may complain at first but the truth is if they buy 1 hardcopy set from you they will have it scanned or reproduced multiple times at their own cost anyway.  Just explain this way they do not have to pay (in or out of house) for the scanning and you are saving them money.
You will not lose the quality contractors but rather get more of the quality contractors with the tighter Bidding requirements because they will know they do not have to compete with the "change order" guys.

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Wayne Oakley AIA
Architect/Partner
Studio Oakley Architects, LLC
Lebanon TN
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Original Message:
Sent: 03-17-2014 18:44
From: Kevin Robinson
Subject: Bid Rooms

This message has been cross posted to the following Discussion Forums: Project Delivery and Small Project Practitioners .
-------------------------------------------
I live in a small community and my practice is comprised almost entirely municipal/government work.  

Because of my location, I have used planning rooms as well as issuing plans from my office.  I have found that planning rooms never quite give out the correct information and, as they are a paid service, find contractors may or may not be receiving the information/updates.  Additionally, the time I'm taking to answer all the plan room requests for updates eats up a significant amount of time and most importantly, I'm never quite sure who is bidding my projects if contractors go to the plan rooms and don't contact me (Plan rooms won't release the information to me unless I subscribe!).

My dilemma is this:  I have been trying to go exclusively to electronic documents (which are free) rather that the "old school" deposit for documents and hoping they come back in usable condition and the massive amount of paper my clients pay for that goes unused once the project is awarded.  I request in every bid call that the Prime Contractor contact me via email so I can create a bidders list, this rarely happens.

So....for the past five years this is the system I have been using and a couple of things have been consistent:  I'm inundated with requests from plan rooms when an advertisement is released.  I hear from a few contractors directly.  I don't hear from a lot of contractors at all.  The end result is fewer contractors are bidding these projects.  I rarely have a a complete list of bidders, therefore addenda and other information may not be reaching interested contractors, ultimately this winnows the pool.

Forgive my rambling...the point:   I don't want to use plan rooms anymore, do I have any obligation to do so?  

I would like to write the advertisement and instructions that no paper documents will be issued and that interested contractors must contact me directly to receive a link to the documents (my clients are onboard with this). If contractors need paper documents they would bear the expense of printing the documents, that's their call.  

What I don't want, is to limit the pool of interested contractors.  What I do want is to know who is bidding and that they are getting the correct info...

What are your thoughts?  I certainly appreciate any comments and suggestions...Thanks to all!

-------------------------------------------
Kevin Robinson, AIA, LEED AP, NCARB
Architecture|Workshop LLC
Silver City NM
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Don't the public entities have a say in the bidding process and procedures to maintain a consistent level of fairness in access?

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Roger Retzlaff AIA
Green Bay WI
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Original Message:
Sent: 03-17-2014 18:44
From: Kevin Robinson
Subject: Bid Rooms

This message has been cross posted to the following Discussion Forums: Project Delivery and Small Project Practitioners .
-------------------------------------------
I live in a small community and my practice is comprised almost entirely municipal/government work.  

Because of my location, I have used planning rooms as well as issuing plans from my office.  I have found that planning rooms never quite give out the correct information and, as they are a paid service, find contractors may or may not be receiving the information/updates.  Additionally, the time I'm taking to answer all the plan room requests for updates eats up a significant amount of time and most importantly, I'm never quite sure who is bidding my projects if contractors go to the plan rooms and don't contact me (Plan rooms won't release the information to me unless I subscribe!).

My dilemma is this:  I have been trying to go exclusively to electronic documents (which are free) rather that the "old school" deposit for documents and hoping they come back in usable condition and the massive amount of paper my clients pay for that goes unused once the project is awarded.  I request in every bid call that the Prime Contractor contact me via email so I can create a bidders list, this rarely happens.

So....for the past five years this is the system I have been using and a couple of things have been consistent:  I'm inundated with requests from plan rooms when an advertisement is released.  I hear from a few contractors directly.  I don't hear from a lot of contractors at all.  The end result is fewer contractors are bidding these projects.  I rarely have a a complete list of bidders, therefore addenda and other information may not be reaching interested contractors, ultimately this winnows the pool.

Forgive my rambling...the point:   I don't want to use plan rooms anymore, do I have any obligation to do so?  

I would like to write the advertisement and instructions that no paper documents will be issued and that interested contractors must contact me directly to receive a link to the documents (my clients are onboard with this). If contractors need paper documents they would bear the expense of printing the documents, that's their call.  

What I don't want, is to limit the pool of interested contractors.  What I do want is to know who is bidding and that they are getting the correct info...

What are your thoughts?  I certainly appreciate any comments and suggestions...Thanks to all!

-------------------------------------------
Kevin Robinson, AIA, LEED AP, NCARB
Architecture|Workshop LLC
Silver City NM
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